The Scandal
Write the first paragraph of your article here. In a March 15th 2010 interview with Woman's Day magazine, regular cast member Sarah Monahan (Jenny Kelly 1987-1993) claimed she had been molested on set during the production of the series. In initial news reports Monahan did not name the man. She told the magazine she was her family's breadwinner after the death of her father and she feared speaking up would cost her the job. Former co-star Julie McGregor said she was shocked by the claims, "I had heard something but I had no idea the extent of the monstering ... and I feel sorry for her that there was no one that she could feel she could turn to." Another cast member, Chris Truswell who played Nudge, said he was surprised by the claims and feared people would think he was the assailant. Truswell and McGregor both said they had no idea of the identity of Monahan's claimed assailant and said they never saw any inappropriate behaviour. Monahan was subsequently interviewed several times on the Nine Network series A Current Affair. In an A Current Affair interview, broadcast on 22 March 2010, Monahan said she had complained but was discouraged from making a formal allegation. In the interview she said "They say that people don’t know but people knew. It was always ‘Keep it hushed’ because this is the most successful TV show on television. People don’t want to know that." In another interview, aired on A Current Affair on 24 March 2010, Monahan alleged that it was the show's lead actor, Robert Hughes, who had sexually molested her. She claimed that this occurred on several occasions during production of the series. Cast member Ben Oxenbould claims he discovered Hughes touching a different young girl, who was a guest actor on an episode, in a way that seemed inappropriate. Hughes, confronted by A Current Affair in Singapore where he now lives, strenuously denied the claims, saying the matter was in the hands of defamation lawyers. In an interview with A Current Affair the executive producer of Hey Dad..!, Gary Reilly, denied knowledge of Monahan's claims until they were published in Woman's Day. Reilly said he confronted a man accused of inappropriate treatment of a young cast member hired after Monahan had left the program. Cast member Simone Buchanan claimed she had approached Reilly about the claimed assaults but that he instructed her to keep quiet. After Buchanan had left the show she claimed that she had received a telephone call from Reilly warning her against speaking up about the claims. In an interview on A Current Affair she said about Reilly that "He was very, very angry with me. He said: 'If I hear you speaking about this again anywhere, I'll see to it you'll never work in this country again'". Buchanan has stated Hughes made a pass at her when she was 18, while he was driving her home. On 29 March 2010, police announced the creation of a task force, codenamed Strike Force Ruskin, to investigate the claims. On 30 March 2010, it was reported that detectives had begun interviewing former members of the show's cast and crew. As of September 2010, Police have yet to interview Hughes now 62. Section heading Write the second section of your article here. Don't forget to add a category, to help people find the article.